Mind Over Monsters

White seventh grader Lena Lennox is a “champion worrier.” When school administrators invite Lena and six of her similarly anxious Cranberry Bog Middle School classmates to participate in a mindfulness meditation trial meant to help reduce student stress via app, she’s skeptical but hopes it proves beneficial. Though the tweens find the first part of the exercises—“Calming and Clearing Our Minds”—to be useful, strange things occur when they begin part two: “Finding and Facing Our Fears.” Soon, their dread starts manifesting in the physical world as inky, tangible blobs. As the group try to uncover the app’s origins and ascertain how their terrors are becoming real, they must also find a way to keep the administration from deploying the program to the entire school. Uhrig (The Polter-Ghost Problem) keeps a steady pace and intertwines Lena’s encounters with her fear monsters with interpersonal worries surrounding her best friend Gina—now going by Regina—who’s “gone pretty” and started flirting with boys after returning from summer camp. Capably balanced humorous and heartfelt prose depicts kids finding the courage to face their demons, both internal and external. Ages 8–12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (July)